Thursday, February 24, 2005

Everything is OK

I'm settling in OK. Or, to be more honest, today was not a bad day so I am not feeling so bad about being here.

Chris and I went to Durango, Colo. this weekend. It's an hour's drive away from here. Such a cute town, albeit a little touristy. Next time, I promise, I will take my camera.

This is what I learned so far about the place I am at: Farmington is actually a city. It's part of San Juan County in New Mexico. There are two other cities in San Juan County: Bloomfield and Aztec. Bloomfield, at least what I've seen is as dreadfully industrial looking as Farmington, but Aztec is charming. A new Thai food restaurant is opening in Aztec and I'm excited to try it. Asian food in this state, so far, has been less than stellar. The kim chee Chris bought in Albuquerque was bad. And the Thai food restaurant I ate at in Albuquerque had "kung pao chicken" on the menu and served fortune cookies at the end of the meal.

My co-workers banded together to try to get laptops for every reporter and our editor told them, "You guys are stepping into the future. Farmington is stuck in the past. That's its charm."

I'm really liking my new editor. Funny guy, and not sketchy like my first editor.

I'm posting from the coffee shop again and they're having an open mike so it's crowded and I feel like everyone can just read over my shoulder. Which is dumb since in 15 seconds I'm going to hit "post" and publish this on the Internet anyway.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Wherever you are, there you are

Sean is not the first person to comment that I moved from Hawaii to the Middle of Nowhere. Some local guy at a restaurant that my co-worker introduced me to (I think he's a councilman here) made the same comment.

And I said, "Well, wherever you are, there you are."

What the hell does that mean? It's amazing the senseless stuff people let you get away with saying because the guy just grinned and nodded enthusiastically and said, "That's true! That's true!"

Sometimes I just say something for the sake of saying it, repeat something I heard, something that sounded sage but I have no idea if it is, and for the most part people will grin and nod rather than be rude and say, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Anyway, I think moving to The Middle of Nowhere, USA might be good for me because I always envisioned myself on a coastal city, not because the ocean is there but because most of the smart, intellectual people live on the coast. Uh, that's not quite right. I mean progressive, diverse, etc. But here I am here, battling my stereotypes of the heartland (are people here all racist?) and a queasy stomach (I'm so nervous!)

Yesterday I drove through this town called Aztec, technically it's a city even though the population is something like 2,000 people. Anyway, I drove through with Chris and we passed this 50-foot-tall cowboy hat with a huge sign that read, 'GOD BLESS AMERICA'. Later, oddly enough, I found out that Aztec is actually a pretty liberal city. Some people refer to it as the "hippie enclave."

Still, had it been snowing, I would have run out and made Chris take a picture of me next to the giant cowboy hat because that sums up my first impression of New Mexico. Snow in the dessert and cowboy hats.

Yesterday it rained, and that was the top story on all the television news stations here.

Friday, February 11, 2005

If can, can if no can no can

I talked to my favorite auntie a couple days ago, and fifteen minutes into our conversation she interrupted to say, "Ho*, you sound like one haole already!"

What??? I've only been here for about two weeks. I know I can't have acquired the southwestern accent that quickly. Maybe it stay because I no like talk in broken English 'ass why.


*No my auntie was not calling me a ho. Unless everybody on the Big Island gets called a ho. If Jo still reads this blog maybe she can say whether Oahu people talk that kind of pidgin. Pidgin varies from place to place and while I don't speak in pidgin often, I know I have the Hilo townie accent.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

New state, same blog

Here I am in New Mexico. Farmington, New Mexico. Been here about two weeks now. Whirlwind of emotions and activity best expressed in a list:

1) Two days into my arrival it started snowing in Albuquerque

2) Two days into my arrival I caught a nasty cold

3) My car is in Albuquerque but I haven't gotten it yet because some trucker named Kenny hauled my car from California and then his truck broke down and is in the garage with my car and four others still on it. Yup. I didn't believe that bullshit either until Chris finally wrangled the name of the garage out of him and confirmed that the truck is indeed there, out of commission with a bunch of cars stacked on it and the cars can't be taken down until the truck's engine is fixed. Un-fucking-believable.

4) New Mexico has really, really open laws. As in I can view actual police records. Like the whole record, not just the blotter and arrest log.

5) There are no one-bedroom or studio apartments in Farmington. What the fuck? The town is apparently booming because there's lots of oil fields and money to be made so people have swallowed up the apartments. So, as a compromise I will be staying in some kind woman's basement until I find a permanent place.

6) I like my new editor. Maybe this ridiculous paycut I agreed to when I took this job will pan out in the long run. We shall see.

7) I still suck at taking pictures. On assignment tonight I couldn't bring myself to take a single shot. It's hard interviewing people, getting them to open up and then pulling out a camera. It's weird and ruins the moment sometimes. I think it's more my problem than the subject's though. I MUST improve at this, damnit. It is officially on my list of things to accomplish.